Events Calendar

Iowa Summer Writing Festival instructors Eric Goodman and Christine Hemp will read from their latest books. Eric Goodman will read from Curveball. “Eric Goodman’s Curveball dwells in its details in the most fascinating way — and it reaches far beyond its baseball setting to become a first-rate intergenerational drama as well as a delightful read.” —T.C. Boyle

Eric Goodman is the author of six previous novels, including In Days of Awe, the prequel to Curveball, and Cuppy and Stew: The Bombing of Flight 629, a Love Story. Educated at Yale and Stanford, Goodman lives in Sonoma County and Mecklenburg, New York. He's a lifelong Mets fan, longtime creative writing director at Miami University (Ohio), and the recipient of several Ohio Arts Council literary fellowships. His previous novels have been Indies Finalist for General Fiction and Silver Book of the Year Award for Gay/Lesbian Fiction. He is the father of a gay son.

Christine Hemp will read from A Wild Ride Home: Love, Loss, and a Little White Horse, a Family Memoir. "Poet Hemp’s debut memoir fluently combines multiple story lines into a coherent whole. A devastating break-up with her fiancé sends her home to Washington State, where she has to confront her mother’s dementia, her own battle with cancer, and her father’s sudden decline and death. In flashbacks, readers learn about the bond she developed with her first horse, Lightfoot, as well as her experiences with her most recent horse, Buddy. Hemp’s parents raised her to be resilient in the face of challenges, and not to accept unhappy endings ... perfect for horse lovers or those who have personal experience with cancer or Alzheimer’s."—Library Journal

Christine Hemp lives on Washington's Olympic Peninsula with two horses, two cats, and one husband. She is the author of That Fall and has aired her essays and poetry on NPR. She has received, among other honors, a Harvard University Extension Conway Award for Teaching Writing, a Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship for Literature, and an Iowa Review award for literary nonfiction. She currently teaches at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival and lives on Washington's Olympic Peninsula with two horses, two cats, and one husband.

Readings at Prairie Lights are sponsored by the Writing University.